Anderson Silva was born April 14, 1975, a middle child of four.[13] The son of a poverty stricken family, Silva spent the majority of his childhood with his aunt and uncle, an officer with the Curitiba police force.[14]

Silva first began training Jiu Jitsu with neighborhood kids who could afford lessons. He explained his introduction to martial arts in an interview with FIGHT! Magazine: “When I started out, Jiu-Jitsu was really an elite thing in Brazil, and there was some prejudice towards poorer kids, so I had to learn things on my own... Some of my neighbors started doing Jiu-Jitsu, so I started watching it, and then started rolling with them. It wasn’t organized training, but it was better than nothing.” By the age of twelve his family was able to set aside enough money to start him in Tae Kwon Do lessons, from which he moved on to Capoeira, before finally settling on Muay Thai at the age of sixteen.[14]

Before he began his career as a professional fighter, Silva worked at McDonalds, and also as a file clerk. He also considers Spider-Man a personal hero, and has a stated love of comic books and comic book heroes.[15]

Mixed martial arts career

Although known primarily for his mastery of Muay Thai striking, Silva is also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, a rank he earned in 2006 from Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira who follows the Gracie Lineage through Carlson Gracie, like Murilo Bustamante and the Brazilian Top Team. He began martial arts training at the age of 12, training Tae Kwon Do and earning a black belt by the age of 18.[16] He is also a black belt in Judo,[16] a yellow rope in Capoeira [17] and is a professional boxer.

Once a member of the Chute Boxe Academy, Silva left to form the Muay Thai Dream Team. In late November 2006, he joined new team Black House with Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort, Assuerio Silva, and the Nogueira brothers.[18][19][20]

Early career

Silva initially fought in his native Brazil in the welterweight category. According to Sherdog.com, Silva made his professional debut in 1997 with a pair of wins.[3] Silva recorded his first loss in 2000 to Luiz Azeredo by decision. After that fight, he went on a nine-fight winning streak, winning six of those fights by either submission or TKO.[3] After winning his first match in Japan, he was put up against Shooto champion Hayato Sakurai on August 26, 2001. Silva beat Sakurai by unanimous decision after three rounds and became the new Shooto Middleweight Champion (at 167 lb) and the first man to defeat Sakurai who was undefeated in his first 20 fights.[3]

Pride Fighting Championships

In 2002, Silva began fighting in Pride. In his first fight with the promotion, he stopped Alex Stiebling with a cut resulting from a high kick. In his next match, he won via decision against the "Diet Butcher" Alexander Otsuka. At Pride 25, Silva faced former UFC welterweight champion Carlos Newton. Newton tried to shoot in on Silva, but was hit with a flying knee. Newton collapsed and Silva finished the fight with strikes, winning by technical knockout.[3]

At Pride 26, Silva faced Daiju Takase. Takase, with a record of four wins and seven losses, was considered a big underdog. Surprisingly, after dominating most of the fight with takedowns, top position, and effective ground and pound, Takase submitted Silva with a triangle choke late in the first round.[21] After his loss to Takase, Silva became demotivated and thought about quitting MMA, but was convinced to keep on fighting by Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. Silva then left Chute Boxe, joined Nogueira in Brazilian Top Team and started to fight in other promotions around the world.[22] On June 27, 2004, Silva fought Jeremy Horn and earned a decision victory. On December 31, 2004, he made a comeback at Pride Shockwave 2004 against Ryo Chonan, but lost again via submission in astonishing fashion due to a flying scissor heel hook.

Cage Rage

Three months later, Silva made his debut in the Cage Rage promotion in England. At Cage Rage 8 Silva fought and defeated noted striker Lee Murray by decision.[3] That year, Silva returned to Pride on December 31 to face Ryo Chonan. Silva was in control with a take down and body triangle in the first round. Chonan was able to counter Silva's knees from the clinch, with knees, and takedowns. Chonan was perceived by some to be winning up until the finish. During the third round, Bas Rutten, commentating alongside Mauro Ranallo, stated that he believed Anderson must obtain a knockout or strong finish or he would lose the fight. Despite being the underdog, Chonan ended the fight in the third round with a flying scissor heel hook, forcing Silva to submit.[3] After the loss to Chonan he was cut by Pride, Silva continued fighting in the Cage Rage promotion, as well as other promotions around the world. Silva defended his Cage Rage title against Curtis Stout.

Although he was slated to fight Matt Lindland at Cage Rage 16, Lindland's decision to fight Mike Van Arsdale at Raze Fight Night put an end to the highly-anticipated match up. Instead, Silva defended his championship against Tony Fryklund, winning the fight with a reverse elbow, knocking out Fryklund early in the first round.[23]

Rumble on the Rock

Silva competed in Hawaii's Rumble on the Rock promotion, where he fought Yushin Okami in the first round of the 175 lb tournament. Though labeled as a favorite to win the tournament,[24] Silva was eliminated from the tournament when he kicked Okami in the face from the guard position. Okami's knees were on the ground at the time, making the attack an illegal strike to the head of a downed opponent. Silva later said that the rule had not been properly explained to him before the bout. "When I fought Okami the rules really weren't explained to me properly in the event I was fighting in," said Silva. "You could kick a downed opponent to the groin or to the head when your back's on the ground. So the rules weren’t explained to me properly."[25] While Okami was given the opportunity to recover and continue fighting, Okami opted for the disqualification win. Silva responded by saying he "felt it was a cheap, cowardly way of winning," and that "people that were there saw that he was in the condition to come back and keep fighting, and he didn't."[26]

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Although speculation ran rampant about where Silva would sign next, the UFC announced in late April 2006 that they had signed him to a multi-fight contract. It was not long before the UFC started promoting Silva, releasing an interview segment almost immediately after announcing his arrival.[27]

Silva made his debut at Ultimate Fight Night 5 on June 28, 2006. His opponent was The Ultimate Fighter 1 contestant Chris Leben who had gone undefeated in the UFC with five consecutive victories. Leben, confident of victory, had predicted he would KO Silva in a pre-fight interview. A relatively unknown fighter in the United States, Silva made an emphatic debut when he knocked out Leben with a flurry of pinpoint strikes, followed by a final knee strike at 49 seconds into the first round. Silva's striking accuracy was 85%.

Middleweight champion

In response to the victory, the UFC tallied a poll on their main page, asking viewers to select Silva's next opponent. The majority of voters selected the UFC Middleweight Champion Rich Franklin. Silva fought Franklin at UFC 64 on October 14, 2006, and defeated him by TKO (strikes) at 2:59 in the first round. Silva hit Franklin with knees to the body from the Muay Thai-clinch, then badly broke Franklin's nose with a knee to the face.[28] Unable to strike back, Franklin dodged the last of Silva's strikes before falling to the ground, where referee "Big" John McCarthy ended the fight. Silva was crowned the new UFC Middleweight Champion, becoming the second man to defeat Franklin, after Black House-teammate Lyoto Machida.

Title defenses and light heavyweight bouts

On February 3, 2007 at UFC 67, Silva was scheduled to fight The Ultimate Fighter 4 winner Travis Lutter in what would be his first title defense since defeating Rich Franklin in October 2006. However, Lutter failed to make the 185 pounds (84 kg) weight limit and the match was changed to a non-title bout.[29] Many felt that Lutter's best chance to win was to take the fight to the ground, with Lutter being an accomplished Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt. Silva won via submission with combination of a triangle choke and elbow strikes in the second round.

In his next fight at UFC 73 on July 7, 2007, Silva successfully defended his title against Nate Marquardt, winning by TKO at 4:50 in the first round. Three months later, on October 20, 2007 at UFC 77, Silva fought a title defense rematch against Rich Franklin, in Franklin's hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio at the U.S. Bank Arena.[30] Silva defended his belt by defeating Franklin via TKO in the 2nd round. On March 1, 2008 at UFC 82 Silva fought Pride Middleweight champion Dan Henderson, in a title unification bout (UFC and Pride titles on the line). Henderson was believed to have the edge on the ground, having competed in the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics in Greco-Roman wrestling. Silva defended his title by defeating Henderson via rear naked choke in the 2nd round. At UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Irvin on July 19, 2008, Silva made his debut at Light Heavyweight (205 lb (93 kg)) in a bout against James Irvin. Silva won via KO due to strikes in 1:01 of the first round after catching Irvin's attempted leg kick with his left arm and delivering a straight right that dropped Irvin to the mat, Silva then finished a prone Irvin with a blitz of punches to the head.[31][32][33][34]

Silva's next fight was on October 25, 2008 at UFC 90 in Rosemont, Illinois, Silva defended his Middleweight title against Patrick Côté. In the third round, Côté landed awkwardly on his right leg while throwing a kick and fell to the mat grasping his right knee in pain. Referee Herb Dean declared the fight over when Côté could not continue, ruling the bout a TKO victory for Silva. Côté, however, became the first of Silva's UFC opponents to make it past the 2nd round. After his fight with Côté, Silva was criticized for seemingly avoiding contact during the bout.[35][36] Dana White criticized Silva, saying: "I didn't understand Silva's tactics... It wasn't the Anderson Silva I've been watching the last two years."[37] Silva said in the post-fight news conference:[38]

"There are many people saying I was disrespecting Cote, but this is absolutely not true. My game plan since the beginning was fight five rounds, inducing him to commit mistakes and capitalize on that during the first three rounds and look for the knockout during the fourth and fifth rounds. It was working, and the biggest proof of that is that I almost didn’t waste any blows. I connected with a couple of good punches and knees, but unfortunately he got hurt and the fight was over. This is not my fault."

On April 18, 2009 at UFC 97 in Montreal, Canada, Anderson Silva defeated Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt Thales Leites by Unanimous Decision, and recorded his UFC record 9th consecutive win in the octagon. Thales Leites is credited with being the first man in UFC history to take Silva through 5 rounds to a judges' decision. The crowd repeatedly booed his lackluster performance, bored expression, and frustrated attempts to goad his opponent into fighting, and in the 4th and 5th rounds took to dancing, lowering his guard and slapping his opponent without retaliation. Following the fight, Dana White has stated that he was "embarrassed" by Silva's performance, but still said that he believes him to be "the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world".[39]

At UFC 101 which took place on August 8, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Silva again fought at 205 pounds against former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin. Griffin was knocked down three times in the first round. The bout earned Silva Beatdown of the Year honors from Sherdog. The bout shared those honors with the second bout between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir.[40] Both fighters were awarded $60,000 as Fight of the Night bonuses and Silva received $60,000 in bonus money for Knockout of the Night.

After defeating Griffin, a Yahoo! Sports reporter allegedly claimed that Silva's manager, Ed Soares, had confirmed that Silva would abandon his Middleweight belt to fight at Light Heavyweight.[41] However, Soares and a UFC spokesperson confirmed that a conversation agreeing Silva would permanently move up to Light Heavyweight never took place. Silva did not relinquish his title to fight exclusively at Light Heavyweight. Soares stated his attorney plans to speak to Yahoo! Sports about the matter.[42]

Silva was expected to defend the UFC Middleweight Championship against Vitor Belfort on January 2, 2010 at UFC 108. However, Ed Soares announced that the bout would not take place as Silva would not be fully recovered from surgery.[43] Silva was then set to face Belfort on February 6, 2010 at UFC 109.[44] The fight, however, was dependent on Silva's healing, which he described as "not going as planned."[45] The fight was canceled because of Silva's slow recovery.[46] Silva was once again scheduled to face Belfort on April 10, 2010 at UFC 112.[47] The fight was later canceled again due to an injury to Belfort.[48] Demian Maia was selected to fill the spot and take on Silva for the belt.

In the first two rounds fighting Maia, Silva appeared to mock his opponent while employing quick, precise striking. In the third round, however, Silva's tempo seemed to change. He looked to Maia to be the aggressor while he largely circled and taunted his opponent. In the fifth round, Silva's lack of action prompted referee Dan Miragliotta to warn Silva for his conduct. The crowd began to side with Maia, who was the only fighter attempting to engage.[49] After 5 rounds, Silva was declared the winner via unanimous decision.

Silva was widely criticized for his performance. Dana White said it was the most embarrassed he had ever been since becoming UFC president.[50] Midway through the fourth round, White walked away from the fight and gave the championship belt to Silva's manager, Ed Soares. White was so annoyed that he declined to personally place the belt around Silva's waist, claiming it was the first time he had done so after a title match.[51] It was also claimed that Silva verbally taunted Maia saying "Come on, hit me in the face playboy."[52] In the immediate post-fight interview, Silva apologized and said that he wasn't himself and that he would need to go back and reevaluate the humility that got him to where he is. In the post-fight interview, Silva made multiple references about how Demian insulted him before the bout.

On August 7, 2010, Silva faced Chael Sonnen for the UFC Middleweight Title at UFC 117. In the first round, Sonnen stunned Silva with a punch before taking him down and dominating from the top position, landing multiple blows. The following three rounds played out in a similar fashion, going to the ground early with Sonnen dominating from inside Silva's guard. In the fifth round, Silva slipped after being tagged by Sonnen's left hook and the challenger took advantage by once again establishing a top position and delivering strikes to Silva. With about two minutes left in the round, Silva was able to lock up a triangle armbar on Sonnen, forcing Sonnen to submit at 3:10 of Round 5.

Silva was hit more in the fight than in his entire UFC career up till that point. According to CompuStrike, in his first 11 UFC fights, Silva was hit 208 times. Sonnen hit him a total of 289 times.[53] After the bout it was revealed that Sonnen would have won a judges' decision. All three judges had Sonnen marked as the winner of all four rounds, judges Nelson Hamilton and Dan Stell had Sonnen taking Round 1 10–8, as well as Hamilton awarding the challenger another 10–8 total in Round 3.[54]

Injury and Return

It was later revealed that Silva went into the fight with a cracked rib and did not follow his doctor's advice not to fight. The injury got worse during the fight and Silva was out until 2011 to recover.[55] Following the fight the California State Athletic Commission confirmed that Chael Sonnen tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).[56][57] Doping tests revealed Sonnen had an elevated testosterone to epitestosterone ratio which fell well outside of the normal range prior to his fight with Silva (a result that is consistent with testosterone replacement therapy).[58] The California State Athletic Commission confirmed, however, that his actual testosterone levels were normal.[59] Dana White announced that Sonnen would get a rematch upon Silva return. This was revoked after the issue with PEDs came to light, but Dana White had a change of heart, after Sonnen came back and won two straight, and scheduled the rematch.

Silva faced Vitor Belfort on February 5, 2011 at UFC 126.[60] Belfort was expected to face Yushin Okami on November 13, 2010 at UFC 122, but was replaced by Nate Marquardt.[61] After a "feeling out" period of about two and a half minutes in the first round, Silva and Belfort started to trade strikes. Silva landed a brutal front kick to Belfort's jaw and followed up with punches to the grounded challenger. Referee Mario Yamasaki stopped the fight at 3:25 minutes into the first round.[62] With the win Silva handed Belfort his first KO loss in 28 career fights & extended his record streak of title defenses to eight. Silva then faced Yushin Okami on August 27, 2011 at UFC 134. He defeated the Japanese middleweight by TKO at 2:04 of round 2, displaying skilled head movement and accurate striking, somewhat comparable to his win over Forrest Griffin. His record then went to 31–4, avenging his DQ loss to Okami back in 2006.

A rematch with Chael Sonnen was to take place on June 23, 2012 at UFC 147,[63] but the bout was moved back to July 7, 2012 at UFC 148, while the expected co-feature of the Brazilian event, a rematch between Vitor Belfort and Wanderlei Silva would headline the event. The change was due to a scheduling conflict with the UN Conference, Rio+20, which occurred during the same time frame as UFC 147.[64] At UFC 148, After losing the first round, Silva stopped Sonnen in the second round with a TKO.[65]

Silva became the first person to stop Stephan Bonnar via strikes in the first round of a light heavyweight bout on October 13, 2012 at UFC 153.[66]

Silva is expected to face Chris Weidman on July 6, 2013 at UFC 162.[67]

Personal life

Silva has three sons and two daughters with his wife, Dayane.[68][69] Silva appeared in Never Surrender in 2009.[70] A documentary about Silva called Like Water, was released in 2011.[71]

In a 2008 interview with MMA Weekly, Anderson Silva's manager stated: "Anderson would love to fight Roy Jones Jr. in a boxing match up under boxing rules to prove that MMA fighters are technical, too."[72] UFC president, Dana White, later expressed that he would use his veto power to stop such a match from taking place because he does not need his fighters getting themselves injured while fighting outside of the octagon.[73] Silva, however, has commented: "After my contract with the UFC is finished, I will set up the fight with Jones Jr. The fight has already been permitted by Jones himself." In April 2009, Jones himself confirmed he is still interested in fighting Silva: "I'm going to try and make it happen. He's saying he wants to fight me, so, OK, I'm ready. Let's brawl." Roy Jones Jr. was in attendance at UFC 101.

In an interview with Brazilian TV station SporTV in September 2008, Silva stated that he was interested in retiring within the next year. However, Anderson's manager, Ed Soares and co-manager Nicholas Gansen, responded to the talk of retirement by saying that Anderson was contractually obligated to fight six more fights (his sixth was against Vitor Belfort) and would do so before retiring. Soares further stated that Silva desires to retire when he is 35 which he turned on April 14, 2010.[74] According to Anderson Silva's manager, Ed Soares, he is not retiring after his contract is over in 2010 and what he supposedly wants is to stay in the 185 division.

Fighting style

Silva is a well rounded fighter whose striking ability is considered to be one of the best in MMA.[75][76] Silva's striking accuracy, knockout power, technically vicious Muay Thai and ability to counterstrike makes him a danger to his opponents.[77][78][79] Silva's striking uses three major strengths: technical precision, the jab, and transitions and movement.[80] Silva switches from southpaw to orthodox with little drop-off in effectiveness.[81] Although it has been claimed that his ground game is not as good as his stand-up,[82] Silva has submitted notable grapplers, including Olympic wrestler Dan Henderson, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt Travis Lutter and Olympic alternate Chael Sonnen.

Anderson Silva is marketed by 9INE, a sports marketing company co-owned by former Brazilian footballer Ronaldo.[85][86] Since August 2011, Anderson has been sponsored by Sport Club Corinthians Paulista, his favorite football club.[87] He is also sponsored by fast food chain Burger King and sportswear and equipment supplier Nike.[88]

Ultimate Fighting Championship UFC Middleweight Championship (One time, Current)
Unified UFC Middleweight and Pride FC Welterweight Championship
Fight of the Night (Three times)
Submission of the Night (Two times)
Most Knockout of the Night Awards in the UFC (Seven times)
Tied (Joe Lauzon) for all-time leader in Post-fight Bonus Awards (12)[6]
Most consecutive title defenses (10)
Most successful title defenses (10)
Tied (Georges St-Pierre) for most wins in UFC title fights (11)
Most finishes in UFC title fights (9)
Most finishes in the UFC (14)
Most consecutive wins in the UFC (16)
Highest significant strike accuracy in UFC (67.8%)[84]
Most knockdowns landed in UFC History (17)[84]
Tied (Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture) for third most wins in the UFC (16)
Longest UFC title reign
Undefeated in the UFC (16-0)
Cover Athlete for UFC Undisputed 3

World MMA Awards 2008 Fighter of the Year[89]
2010 Fight of the Year vs. Chael Sonnen on August 7[90]
2011 Knockout of the Year vs. Vitor Belfort on February 5[91]

Sports Illustrated (SI.com) 2008 Fighter of the Year[92]

Spike Guys' Choice Awards 2008 Most Dangerous Man

Sherdog 2009 Beatdown of the Year vs Forrest Griffin on August 8[40]
2011 All-Violence 1st Team[93]

MMA Live 2010 Fight of the Year vs Chael Sonnen on August 7[94]

Inside MMA 2011 KO Kick of the Year Bazzie Award vs. Vitor Belfort on February 5

ESPN.com 2011 Knockout of the Year vs. Vitor Belfort on February 5[95]

Silva is the UFC's longest reigning champion and also holds the longest winning and title defense streak in UFC history, with 16 consecutive wins and 10 title defenses.[5] He has 12 post-fight bonus awards.[6] Silva is ranked as the #1 middleweight in the world by multiple publications including Sherdog[7] and is the consensus No. 1 pound-for-pound mixed martial arts fighter in the world according to ESPN, Sherdog, Yahoo! Sports and other publications.[8][9][10] UFC president Dana White called Silva "the greatest mixed martial artist ever."[11

Website
http://www.spideranderson.com/
Boxing record from Boxrec
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

last updated on: July 18, 2012

Anderson da Silva[1] (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈɐ̃deʁsõ ˈsiwvɐ]; born April 14, 1975) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist and current UFC Middleweight Champion. Silva is the UFC's longest reigning champion and also holds the longest winning and title defense streak in UFC history, with 16 consecutive wins and 10 title defenses.[5] He has 12 post-fight bonus awards.[6] Silva is ranked as the #1 middleweight in the world by multiple publications including Sherdog[7] and is the consensus No. 1 pound-for-pound mixed martial arts fighter in the world according to ESPN, Sherdog, Yahoo! Sports and other publications.[8][9][10] UFC president Dana White called Silva "the greatest mixed martial artist ever."[11][12]

Anderson Silva was born April 14, 1975, a middle child of four.[13] The son of a poverty stricken family, Silva spent the majority of his childhood with his aunt and uncle, an officer with the Curitiba police force.[14]

Silva first began training Jiu Jitsu with neighborhood kids who could afford lessons. He explained his introduction to martial arts in an interview with FIGHT! Magazine: “When I started out, Jiu-Jitsu was really an elite thing in Brazil, and there was some prejudice towards poorer kids, so I had to learn things on my own... Some of my neighbors started doing Jiu-Jitsu, so I started watching it, and then started rolling with them. It wasn’t organized training, but it was better than nothing.” By the age of twelve his family was able to set aside enough money to start him in Tae Kwon Do lessons, from which he moved on to Capoeira, before finally settling on Muay Thai at the age of sixteen.[14]

Before he began his career as a professional fighter, Silva worked at McDonalds, and also as a file clerk. He also considers Spider-Man a personal hero, and has a stated love of comic books and comic book heroes.[15]

Mixed martial arts career

Although known primarily for his mastery of Muay Thai striking, Silva is also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, a rank he earned in 2006 from Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira who follows the Gracie Lineage through Carlson Gracie, like Murilo Bustamante and the Brazilian Top Team. He began martial arts training at the age of 12, training Tae Kwon Do and earning a black belt by the age of 18.[16] He is also a black belt in Judo,[16] a yellow rope in Capoeira [17] and is a professional boxer.

Once a member of the Chute Boxe Academy, Silva left to form the Muay Thai Dream Team. In late November 2006, he joined new team Black House with Lyoto Machida, Vitor Belfort, Assuerio Silva, and the Nogueira brothers.[18][19][20]

Early career

Silva initially fought in his native Brazil in the welterweight category. According to Sherdog.com, Silva made his professional debut in 1997 with a pair of wins.[3] Silva recorded his first loss in 2000 to Luiz Azeredo by decision. After that fight, he went on a nine-fight winning streak, winning six of those fights by either submission or TKO.[3] After winning his first match in Japan, he was put up against Shooto champion Hayato Sakurai on August 26, 2001. Silva beat Sakurai by unanimous decision after three rounds and became the new Shooto Middleweight Champion (at 167 lb) and the first man to defeat Sakurai who was undefeated in his first 20 fights.[3]

Pride Fighting Championships

In 2002, Silva began fighting in Pride. In his first fight with the promotion, he stopped Alex Stiebling with a cut resulting from a high kick. In his next match, he won via decision against the "Diet Butcher" Alexander Otsuka. At Pride 25, Silva faced former UFC welterweight champion Carlos Newton. Newton tried to shoot in on Silva, but was hit with a flying knee. Newton collapsed and Silva finished the fight with strikes, winning by technical knockout.[3]

At Pride 26, Silva faced Daiju Takase. Takase, with a record of four wins and seven losses, was considered a big